Ex-Pirate Long dies after bout with cancer

Sports briefly

Dale Long, who set a major league record with home runs in eight consecutive games in 1956, died Sunday in Palm Coast, Fla., after a long bout with cancer. He was 64.

Long spent 11 years in the major leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, Washington Senators and New York Yankees.

His record string of homers began in Pittsburgh on May 19, 1956, off Jim Davis of the Chicago Cubs. It ended on May 28 with his eighth homer, off Carl Erskine of the Brooklyn Dodgers at Forbes Field. The record was tied by Don Mattingly of the New York Yankees in 1987.

* Roger Clemens appeared before American League president Bobby Brown yesterday in an effort to overturn his five-game suspension at the start of the season.

Clemens, who was given the suspension along with a $10,000 fine for his actions in Game 4 of the American League playoffs, argued his case along with his agent, Randy Hendricks, and Gene Orza and Michael Weiner of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

"Everybody had a chance to say what was on their mind," Brown said. "We reviewed the tapes and we reviewed the umpires' reports."